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Destiny Video From Sony PlayStation Meeting Now Live

The Sony PlayStation meeting announced the new PS4 platform at 6 p.m. EST yesterday, and is covered via Erik Kain in more detail. Forbes Tech channel’s Carol Pinchefsky, who was onsite at the press conference, and Paul Tassi, who liveblogged the PS4 event both provided initial specs, content demos and the latest PS4 updates from the press conference. In related news earlier this week, Bungie and Activision officially announced that Destiny would be shipping on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

On Feb. 20, Bungie co-founder Jason Jones shared a simple message with PlayStation fans around the world: Destiny is being developed for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, with both versions available at Destiny‘s launch. Harold Ryan, President of Bungie further added “Destiny is being developed for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, with both versions available at Destiny‘s launch. Destiny will also feature exclusive in-game content, only available on PlayStation.” Bungie’s online persistent world game is not the only game jumping aboard the new Sony platform. And speaking of other worlds, at the Sony PlayStation press conference, Chris Metzen, Blizzard’s senior vice president of story and franchise development, commented on plans to bring Diablo 3 to both the PlayStation 3 and the upcoming PlayStation 4 consoles.

Sony executives at the press conference made mention of a focus on streaming games across a network of devices and tapping into social gaming, which translates into faster downloading times, share buttons for video clips, and the functionality to take over a friend’s controller when they need help. There was also mention of the PlayStation 4′s integration with third-party services, phones, and tablets. Players will be able to use smartphones to view gameplay videos and throw down the gauntlet to friends for game challenges, etc. The PlayStation 4 will have the functionality to stream PS4 games to the PlayStation Vita, ultimately making all PlayStation 4 games playable on Sony’s latest mobile console.

The focus on online content and experience is consistent with Sony’s purchase of Gaikai, a cloud gaming firm. According to CEO Dave Perry, the PlayStation Network will become more interactive, in relation to responding to player gaming preferences. To this end, Sony has formed deals with social networks Facebook and Ustream to share gaming preferences and history. Finally, players’ friends will be able to virtually “look over the shoulder” of gaming mates, interact with them during games, and post comments about their screens. Other than its expected delivery during the holiday 2013 season, there are still at least five unanswered questions about Sony’s new console, as my Forbes colleague, Carol Pinchefsky points out.

Check out the official U.S. Playstation blog for breaking announcements about the PlayStation 4, or check out the latest posts on the PS4 on the E.U PlayStation blog if you’re in Europe. We’re all looking forward to hearing more about what this next-generation powerhouse can do, but most of all, what it will look like!

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